One Bad Day Deserves Another
by Fae Rain
Summary: Sarah feels like she's losing her mind. She hopes that Jareth can make it stop. After all who else would be using magic to ruin Sarah's life?
1. bad day

Summary: Sarah feels like she's loosing her mind. She hopes that Jareth can make it stop. After all who else would be using magic to ruin Sarah's life?

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Sarah frowned as she watched her best friend pace back and forth in front of the school steps. Caitlyn was saying something, something she thought was important but Sara couldn't quite hear her.

Or focus on her for that matter. Every few seconds Caitlyn became a moving, muffled blur.

Distantly she thought of the peach she had eaten in the Underground.

"Are you even paying attention?!" Cailtyn huffed, her short blonde hair slightly wild from running her fingers through it in frustration.

"I'm trying to." Sarah shook her head and looked up into Caitlyn's big blue eyes, "I must be getting a head cold or something. My eyes and ears and just my whole head feels weird.

She hadn't eaten a peach but the feel was almost the same. This all felt distinctly of magic.

Frowning Caitlyn walked over and placed her hand on Sarah's head, "You're not running a fever but you're cool to the touch. Almost cold. Maybe you should go to the nurse."

When all Sarah did was stare blankly up her Caitlyn took her dark haired friend by the arm and led her to the school doors.

"If you keep acting like this the nurse will surely send you home."

Sarah shook her head again, hoping to get rid of the sudden buzzing that had filled her ears. She wasn't sure but she thought Caitlyn had just called her a 'surly whore', which couldn't be right. Caitlyn, while firey and wild had never even used the word whore before in the entire time Sarah had known her.

Maybe she'd ask Caitlyn to take her to the nurse. The buzzing was getting worse.

"I'll talk to the nurse for you." Caitlyn offered as they came to the nurse's office, "You don't even look like you know what's going on around you."

Sarah hadn't wanted to go home but she didn't realy have a choice when she couldn't even talk to the nurse. The woman had repeatedly tested Sarah's reflexes and taken her temperature.

Each time her expression became darker and darker.

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Jareth stood on the balconey looking over the eastern part of the labyrinth.

Something was there that wasn't suppose to be.

The Labyrinth was more than capable of taking care of it's self so Jareth felt worried that it had alerted him to an intruder.

No one came into the Labyrinth on some whim.

Some one screamed and in a heartbeat Jareth was standing in the middle of the section he had just been overlooking, a clump of dead faries at his feet. In the middle of the faries lay a small nymph.

Nymphs and faries, cousins somewhere along the line, were always living in the twisting paths of the Labyrinth. This wasn't what had been bothering the Maze.

Small spatterings of pale silver blood showed where the attacker had gone. It seemed that the Faeries and Nymph hadn't gone down without a fight.

The Goblin King sent the bodies away before following the trail of blood around the next corner.

The Labyrinth, more aware of what was going on than most gave it credit for cleared a path for him. He was able to follow the blood all the way to a wall where the thing had grown desperate and tried to climb over the vines.

Well that ended that.

Jareth frowned at the large clump of vines nearest him as they tightened around their prize.

Whatever it had been it was now food for the plants.

"What was it?" he asked outloud and saw the plants pull in tighter, "Show me." he ordered and a small blurry picture entered his mind, "That's all you saw?" when the image stayed he shook his head and walked away.

A white-ish blur. No details or colors.

Who ever sent it in deffinitely didn't want it seen to have gone to so much trouble to cloak it in such a way.

Growling under his breath, Jareth walked back to his palace and set up guards around the inner walls of the Labyrinth.

Ever since Sarah had beaten him 3 years ago everyone seemed to think that the Goblin King had grown soft and that his land would be easy to take. They all planned to take it once he was dead. The only problem was that none of them ever found their way through the Maze to kill him.

They never even got close.

Jareth was still as strong as ever and still as cruel as ever aswell. It had taken a few deaths early on to show the would be overthrowers that he wasn't as weak as they thought.

He wasn't about to give up the Labyrinth just because some brat beat him and gave those idiots the idea that he was ready to step down. Of course, no king was ever ready to step down and his resistance seemed to just fuel the attemps on his throne.

And on his life.

One of these days he'd go pay a visit to Sarah and tell her just how much a thorn in his side she had been. Even with her gone he was always reminded about his defeat. He had lost to a child. A human child had found her way through and tested her will against his.

And won.

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Sarah was no longer sure what was happening around her. More than once she had thought she saw a large dog following her father's car as he drove her home.

Fuzzy as her mind was she kept seeing the dog. In all truth she had thought it to be bear becasue of it's size but the build, what she could see of it, was all wrong. The legs were too thin and the feet too small to be a bear. Not to mention the way it lopped along after the car in a very unbearlike fashion.

She was deffinitely going to give Jareth a piece of her mind.

That is, once she knew just where the rest of her mind was.

Thinking was getting harder and harder and she was fairly certain her father was taking her to the hospitol now that he had seen for himself how hard it was for her to even respond.

She didn't blame him realy, even though she wasn't fond of doctors. She'd be scared too if someone she loved was acting the way she was.

Sarah leaned her head back against the seat as her father squeezed her hand and spoke to her.

She couldn't hear him but she knew he was trying to tell her that everything would be all right.

Again the dark shape the size of a bear was following the car.

Sarah could see it out of the corner of her eye but everytime she looked at it straight on there was nothing there. She was trying to blame it on whatever it was that was wrong with her thought process and sight but there was something deffinitely wrong about that dog.

More wrong than what was happening to her.

It made her uneasy and want to curl up and hide, a feeling she hadn't gotten in years. And even then it had always been horror movies that had that effect on her.

Carefull to only use her sidevision Sarah saw that the dog thing was closer.

"Jareth, by the Gods, what have you done?" Sarah whispered as the thing steadily caught up with her father's car.

The damn thing was staring right at her.

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Jareth's head jerked around when he heard Sarah's voice say his name.

Never had she ever called him by his first name.

What occassion would cause her to do so.

Pulling a crystal out of the air Jareth froze when he saw what it was Sarah was seeing. Even from the other side of the crystal he could feel her confused and fuddled mind.

Only magic could do that so completely to a human mind.

The Graua was gaining on the human vehicle.

"I think not, my tricky friend." Jareth growled and left out a breath on the crystal's surface and in a blink the Graua was gone.

Frowning, Jareth watched as Sarah relaxed and tried to remember where it was she going. When a large white building appeared before her Jareth tensed.

That wasn't her home.

Where would they take someone who's mind has been meddled with by magical means? Did they even have such a place?

No, they didn't. He could tell at once that the people who were bringing Sarah into the building were not magical in anyway. They wouldn't know where to begin to help Sarah. Nor would they even see the Graua if it were to return.

"Child, you have been nothing but trouble since I first laid eyes on you." Jareth said to the small image of Sarah laying in a too white room in a skiny bed with thin blankets around her.

He had no choice. He had to talk with her.

Jareth wrinkled his nose at the thought but with a deep breathe that came out as an annoyed sigh he vanished from the Goblin castle.

And reappeared at the foot of Sarah's bed.

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She saw him.

Clearly.

He was the only thing in the entire room that wasn't twisting and moving out of place.

"Why?" she asked, her throat hurting as if she had screamed the word.

"Because you have beaten me." Jareth just stood there looking at her as the people in the room didn't even spare him a glance.

"So you punish me?" she whispered, feeling her eyes well up.

"This is not my doing, young Sarah. Nor is it the doing of just one being. There are many magics apon you. Each trying to drag you in a different direction."

"Will you fix it?" Sarah asked, seeing her father walk into the room with Toby in his arms.

"And why should I?" Jareth sneared.

At his words Toby turned to look directly at the Goblin King.

"I see he hasn't quite forgotten me." Jareth smirked as he walked towards the boy, "Hello, almost Goblin Prince."

"I need you to help me." Sarah pleaded, "I feel like my mind isn't my own. There's so much inside my head. Voices, commands, words I don't even know!"

Jareth spun around, hearing what it was Sarah was hearing. And this time it wasn't in her mind alone.

The Graua had returned and with no less than five of his friends.

Jareth stood at Sarah's bed side as the creatures came through the walls.

"They are real." Sarah whispered, bringing the blankets up to her chin like a child.

"Yes, unfortunately they are also a menace to the Underground." he addressed the creatures standing before him, "And what bussiness do you have here, outside of your domain?"

"We want the girl. She is ours."

Sarah didn't know how but the words made sense when just moments before she couldn't understand them.

"Dear Sarah is the one who bested me." Jareth growled out in the same laguage the Graua were using, "If any can lay such a claim it is me!", in one swift movement Jareth removed the gold necklace from within his shirt and placed it around Sarah's neck. The removal of the necklace had been so smooth that if Sarah hadn't felt the weight of it around her neck she would have though she was seeing things.

The Graua lunged but before they even reached the bed they could see that it was empty.

The Golblin King had disappeared with the girl.

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Sarah slowly opened her eyes and was happy to see that everything was holding still and was as clear as ever.

Not that she could realy judge if the things in the room were as clear as they usualy were because she had no idea where she even was. It deffinitely wasn't her own room back home.

But everything had deffinition and details.

So far so good.

Sarah sat up and felt a weight against her chest. Looking down she saw that she wore Jareth's gold pendant.

And now she remembered where she was.

"Jareth!" she yelled, throwing herself out of the bed she'd been laying in.

Sarah bolted for the door, hoping to get out but found that she was locked in.

Turning she saw just how big the room was. She didn't remember it being so big when Jareth had brought her there the night before.

But then again her mind hand't realy been on the room, just on the fact that she didn't feel like she was on some amusement park ride. She'd been so happy that she could see and hear normaly that when Jareth told her she needed to sleep she had turned right around and climbed into the massive bed.

She hadn't asked why. She hadn't even asked how it was that her mind was so clear.

Feeling guilty, Sarah also realized she hadn't asked about her family. How would they react to seeing her just vanish from a hospitol room?

Sarah banged on the door, realizing how odd the room actualy was. The walls were covered in dark drapes and the floor in a thick, almost too soft carpet.

There wasn't so much as one window.

"Jareth!" Sarah turned back to the door and screamed his name again as she pounded on the wooden surface, hoping someone would hear her.

"What is it?' a familliar angry voice asked from behind her and Sarah found Jareth leaning against a desk she hadn't noticed before.

"My family - they must be worried. I have to get back to them!" Sarah spoke quickly.

"You can't go back untill we know what it is those spells were suppose to do to you." Jareth walked over to where Sarah stood and looked down at her as if she were still nothing but a child, "They would use you to beat me. No one beats me. Therefore I have made your family forget you for the time being. You are safer here."

"Forget me?!" Sarah almost tipped over, "But Toby! And my school work! What will happen to dad?"

She forgot to ask about Karen.

"They haven't forgotten you completely so you can stop over reacting." he sounded bored with her already, "When they think of you their thoughts just slide onto other things. They neither miss you nor are they concerned with where you are."

"When can I go home?" Sarah asked, starightening her shoulders.

"When this mess is over." Jareth looked past her to the door and she heard it click open, "You are to stay inside the palace. The goblins will not bother you. More than likely you will not even see them within the palace walls. Do not go outside and do not open any windows."

Jareth walked from the room so quickly Sarah had a feeling he was tried of her company and tired of her questions as well.

She should have argued and yelled about not wanting to be there but what choice did she have? She'd been sure in some part of her mind that she was going to die today and she wasn't ready to return to that helpless feeling.

"Great." Sarah muttered, "I'm the Goblin King's captive. If I run away I die, more than likely, and if I stay I have to endure his temper."

Sara just hoped he didn't expect her to play nice if he started baiting her for a fight because after the day she'd had she was ready to yell at someone- anyone.

In one of the corners od the room Sarah found a trunk of clothing. Some of it was men's clothing, some of it was women's.

"So he didn't plan on this any more than I did." Sarah said to herself as she pulled out a pair of women's riding pants and a men's button up shirt.

While she was stuck in the underground she couldn't very well walk around in the half shirt the hospitol made people wear.

Who in their right mind had thought it would be a good idea to dress sick people in a piece of cothing that didn't even close all the way?

Sarah looked down at the necklace she wore. Why would the Goblin King place such a lovely stone pendant around her neck?

In the light of the few candles burning in the room Sarah could see that the yellow stone held flecks of what looked to be gold.

She could all but see the magic in the stone work.

Sarah hoped this wasn't the only thing Jareth was planning to use in keeping magic out of her mind.

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A/N: I rated this T because I have a tendency to swear even when I'm typing. As of right now this story doesn't have too much of a future. If you want more just send me a review and I'll try to update soon. 


	2. open threat

A/N I was very surprised to find that 5 people review my story. For a new story with only one chapter - thats pretty good. :) Tahnk you so much for the reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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Sarah was frustrated to say the least. The day had passed in absolute silence. Just as Jareth had said, she hadn't seen one goblin all day but neither had she seen anyone else.

On her second trip through the palace she had thought she heard someone walking just up ahead of her but no matter how fast she ran she couldn't catch up. At each corner she was hoping to see someone but it always sounded as if they were still a good twenty feet away.

"I've spent an hour chasing someone who probably isn't even there." Sarah huffed, finding herself suddenly in what looked to be the kitchens.

She hadn't had to look for food all day because her meals had appeared in her room. After lunch she had begun to wonder if there was kitchen at all or if everything was done with magic.

Surprisingly everything in the kitchens looked spotless. Sarah couldn't imagine that a group of goblins, no matter how well trained, would ever leave a room so clean.

On inspection she found that much of the palace was as spotless as the kitchens and to her relief there were no weird odors or stains anywhere.

Standing on her toes Sarah found that she could just see out under the shutters that covered the windows in the throne room. After a day inside with all the windows closed she was begining to miss the sunlight.

"I told you to stay away from the windows." a cold voice whispered right into her ear.

Startled Sarah jumped and spun to find Jareth smirking at her, "No, you told me not to open any of the windows." she shot back, "You never said anything about looking past the shutters."

Galring at her a bit he said harshly, "Very well if you need everything spelled out for you here it is- any form of the outside is off limits unless you want someone to take control of your mind like they nearly succeeded in doing yesterday."

"Take control?" Sarah raised an eyeborw, "You mean, make me do things?"

"In away yes." Jareth plopped himself down on his throne, "If so many spells hadn't been put on you at once then who ever it is that is after you would have had you on your knees spilling every detail about the Labyrinth. Not that the details worry me much. The Labyrinth is much too smart to let just any one through. The thing that does bother me is what they would have done with your mind when they finished with you?"

Letting all this sink in a strange thought occured to Sarah, "But why did you save me? If you aren't worried about what they would have learned from me, then why not let them have me?"

With a grin Jareth stated, "Because if anyone is to tear you to pieces, mind body and soul then I feel that I should be the one to do it. You are the one, afterall who brought all this trouble down apon me and my kingdom."

His grin didn't scare her or even make her stomack knot up like it use to years ago, "You said I could go home after this was settled." she said calmly.

"So I did." Jareth sighed, "Very well, how about this for a bit of truth? You are the only mortal to have ever beaten me, Sarah. I am intrigued by you just as I am angered just by your mere presense. I want to know how you bettered me. I want to know why you are the only one to have ever made it to the palace and to have made it out alive with the child."

"There is no mystery to it." Sarah sighed, seeing that the only reason Jareth had kept her alive was because he was still sore about losing and he wanted to know he could have beaten her.

"Then tell me how you did it." Jareth smiled a cold dead looking smile.

"I love Toby." Sarah sat on the floor, her back to one of the walls, "Yes, he drove me crazy but if I had known what would have realy happened when I said those words...to see that he was no longer there. It felt as though my heart had been ripped out. It was my selfishness that sent him away and even if it killed me I was going to get him back."

"But why!" Jareth all but yelled, jumping up to pace the room, the cold smile gone from his face.

"What do you mean why?" Sarah asked, bewildered, "I love him. That's simple enough to understand, Jareth. You fight for what you love and if you give up you are letting your loved ones down. Toby couldn't fight for himself so I fought for him. It was my fault he was gone, not his. I wasn't about to let him suffer for my mistake."

Jareth walked right over to where Sarah sat and squatted down to look her in the eye, "But there's something more to it, Sarah. So many before you, proclaiming their love for the child I took away gave up before even finding their way past the first wall. An hour, Sarah." Jareth looked her face over like he was trying to see past the girl that sat before him, "An hour was as long as most people searched."

Surprised and horrified. Sarah just stared at him for a minute, "An hour?' she asked quietly, "Only an hour before giving up their baby to become a Goblin?...That's horrible."

"That's the human race." Jareth said before standing and walking away from her.

"But not everyone is like that!" Sarah stood up and followed Jareth out of the room, "Not everyone is that cruel."

"The one's I've met have been." Jareth said without slowing down or even turning to look at her as she caught up to him on the staircase.

"Well, the one's you've met all wished away their babies. How good can a person be who does that?" she asked and he suddenly stopped and faced her.

"Yes," he smiled, "How good can one be?"

"But I didn't give up!" Sarah felt her face heat up as he stared at her.

His smile vanished, "So you didn't." he turned and in one smooth motion closed himself in a room sarah hadn't noticed they had stopped in front of.

She hated that he did that! He just walked away while she still wanted to argue.

Trying the handle she found that the door was locked.

"Tell me what's going on, Jareth!" Sarah pounded on the door with her fist, "You can't just keep me here and not tell me anything! At least tell me who is trying to get to me!"

No answer.

"Fine!" she yelled at the closed door, "I'll just wait right here untill you're ready to talk." Sarah sat down with a huff, her shoulders against the door, "And if you leave using magic then I'll only yell louder the next time we talk!"

She knew it was a chidish threat and that there was no real reason for him to tell her anything if he didn't want to. She was, at the moment, safe, while his home and lands were under silent attack.

Sarah made herself comfy, expecting Jareth to make it into a contest of wills to see who would last longest. Well, she wasn't about to leave so she hoped he was prepared to stay the rest of the day and night locked inside that room.

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Jareth answered the flare that went up on the northern boarder and nearly screamed at what he found there.

More than a dozen ancient trees were dead and grey.

"It looks to be the work of Shadowyns, sir." one of the goblins said quietly.

"I know what the work of Sadowyns look like." he growled.

Things were just getting more complicated as the minutes passed.

"First Graua and now Shadowyns. Some one is out to get my attention, no doubt." Jareth looked around the area and saw nothing.

Not that he realy expected to see anything lingering that might lead him to where his new enemies had gone.

No, of course not. That would just be too easy. All they had wanted to do was show him just how close they could get.

"But what should we do?" that same goblin asked, flinching as he awaited Jareth's harsh words.

"Get everyone within the Labyrinths boundaries. The Shadowyns have taken magic from the very plantlife as a way to hopefully out power us. I won't have them feeding on my guards aswell." his words weren't harsh at all. In fact from Jareth it was almost a confession of worry for the goblin guards he had set up.

Jareth stood as the goblins around him scurried off to let everyone know that it was no longer safe to be outside the walls.

Thoughts of the darker creatures and darker fae floated through the Goblin king's head as he stood and stared off at the distant tree line that led to some of the more dangerous kingdoms in the underground.

Surely anyone would benefit from having the magic and power of the Labyrinth at their finger tips and many had tried through out the years to claim it as their own. The only problem now was to figure out who it was this time causing him so much grief.

Instead of magicking himself back inside the walls, Jareth chose to walk around the outside of the Labyrinth. Since before he could crawl he had known that this would one day be his. A kingdom full of goblin didn't sound like much but when the rest of the fae kingdoms circled around this one place it made those small creatures invaluable.

Goblins were rather tireless when it came to working and they had even been used centuries back to build some of the greater caverns in the mountains. While not the brightest candles in the bunch, goblins still understood how to do their jobs. If they were taught propperly there wasn't any reason why they couldn't mine for gold or diamonds.

Then there was also the power of the land itself. The Labyrinth hadn't been built for safety reasons or even out of a twisted sense of humor to watch others die within it. Instead the whole structure had risen out of the ground of it's accord. It didn't ask permission to come into being and once it was there it wasn't about to go away just because other kingdoms now feared it.

The Labyrinth and the land it was on, even the palace, were all just as much alive as Jareth himself.

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Sarah tried so hard to stay awake as night fell outside. Jareth hadn't come out yet and she wasn't about to leave without giving him a piece of her mind.

Yawning, Sarah pushed aside the rest of the meal that had appeared at her feet only a few minutes before.

She wasn't sure how it was done but the fact that her meal came to her when she wasn't in her room was a wonderfull thing. She's been afraid she'd be forced to get up when her stomack spoke up rather loudly and announced it was empty.

The soup and bread and jam had been so tasty that she barely took time to breathe as she ate. It'd been a long time since Sarah had ever gotten that hungry.

Leaning back against the door, Sarah let her eyes droop closed. There was no way she was getting up and leaving. Jareth wouldn't be rid of her so easily.

He was so annoying! He just ignored her when it suited him and answered only the questions he wanted to answer.

She was stuck staying in the same place as him, for crying outloud! Was it too much to ask that he explain things?!

But then again that was how he'd been back then too. Always shifting the puzzle pieces around to confuse you even more.

Sarah ignored the sound in the hall in front of her. The only thing she cared about was anything that went on inside the room she'd been guarding all afternoon.

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Jareth had panicked when he couldn't find Sarah in her rooms. Of all the times for her to missing, right after an open threat wasn't the best!

He stormed around the palace, looking in all the places he thought she would find interesting. When the library turned out to be empty he magicked himself back to the hall that would lead him into his rooms. From there he would be able to concentrate better on his crystals and hopefully find the damn girl within a few minutes.

If she had left the palace after all that he had said earlier there was no way he was going to run off to her rescue.

Not that she'd want him to recue her anyways. She seemed to always be on the verge of shouting whenever he was in the same room.

Not that he blamed her. She had a simillar effect on him.

Jareth had taken only one step towards his door when he froze.

There, leaning against the black wood door was Sarah. Her eyes were closed and her knees were pulled up to her chest.

His anger and panic vanished.

He was sure she had no idea but the safest place for her with Shadowyns so close by was right where she was.

The door was older than anyone could even remember and magicked each spring with better and stronger protection spells. While she was touching it's surface, hardly anything would be able to harm her.

Kings after Kings through the centuries had added their own specail touch of magic to keep their room guarded and safe from all threats. No magic could invade that room and once the door was closed only the King could open it.

The enitre room Jareth called his own was protected in a smilliar fashion.

Jareth's own crystals wouldn't have been able to see her. She was too close to that magicked door. He was just lucky he hadn't appeared inside of his rooms. He never would have found her then. Well, not untill she woke up and headed back to her own room.

"Wake up, you." he grabbed her wrist and gave her a small tug, "You should be in bed alseep. Not dozing against the King's door. It looks bad."

"I realy don't give a shit how it looks." Sarah yawned, "You're the one who ran away from me when we talking. I wasn't about to give up and go away."

It seemed over the years she hadn't realy changed at all. She was taller and looked older but that strong willed fire still burned inside her. In a way this was a reasuring thing for Goblin King.

"I see." Jareth took her elbow and steered her down the hall towards her own room, "And just what was it you wanted to say?" he was sure she was going to pull away from him but she instead let him lead her.

"Don't ignore me." she yawned again, "I'm in this as much as you are. If I ask a question it's not because I want to bother you but because I am truely curious."

Her eyes were barely open. Perhaps she forgotten that the days were longer in the Underground. Or perhaps she wasn't quite over the strain all those spells had put on her body.

"Very well. You win." Jareth watched as she smiled sleepily, "From now on I will try to answer your questions to the best of my abilities."

"That's all I need." Sarah nodded and when Jareth opened the door to her room she walked in slowly and curled up in bed fully dressed.

"I"ll see you in the morning." he said, closing the door.

She had surprised him. Half asleep she'd been easier to talk to as opposed to talking to her when she was fully awake. Maybe he would try speaking to her first thing in the morning. That way she would hear more of what he said rather than spending her time finding a reason to be mad at him.

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A/N: Hope you liked it. Please review. 


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